HANDWRITTEN: your impressions, comments, and declarations of love

bringiton_ty wrote:

haha i gathered/hoped that! i think it was the excitement of the night,situations and hope conveyed in the songs that came accross clearer in previous albums (still dont feel that sums up what im thinking but ah well)

perhaps the term we are looking for is 'life-affirming'; that's certainly what the earlier albums were

so maybe that's the Gaslight magic that's missing here, songs that are 'life-affirming'

"life affirming" il take that

steady now steady now wrote:

bringiton_ty wrote:

haha i gathered/hoped that! i think it was the excitement of the night,situations and hope conveyed in the songs that came accross clearer in previous albums (still dont feel that sums up what im thinking but ah well)

perhaps the term we are looking for is 'life-affirming'; that's certainly what the earlier albums were

so maybe that's the Gaslight magic that's missing here, songs that are 'life-affirming'

I definitely see where you're coming from with this, and for me Blue Dahlia is a very good example of a 'life-affirming' song that perhaps is more similar to the earlier albums.

Definately agree with blue dahlia. Its a crime that isnt a song on the album lol!!! its probably my favourite alongside 45, biloxi parish and mae

This may sound odd, but I almost feel like I can't form a concrete opinion on this album until I hear the next one. I've been going with the idea that "this album's amazing it's just missing that spark". But now I'm wondering if it's not a spark so much as it's just different from the previous albums and what I'm missing is that familiarity. In that case it's just a matter of adjusting to something different, which I think will be easier when have more to go on. This album isn't so different that they're not the same band but it's in some ways a major change.

My conclusion on this album after having listened to it almost every day since its release is that it's a pretty big disappointment.

I think this website sums it up pretty well....

http://www.metacritic.com/person/the-gaslight-anthem

I like the album but I didnt get the feeling that I got when 1st listening to 59 sound and American Slang. Not saying its a bad album though

Harbortown wrote:

My conclusion on this album after having listened to it almost every day since its release is that it's a pretty big disappointment.

isn't that like 2 months?

I had to post this because it was too strange and coincidental. I was listening to Razorlight's self-titled album from 2006 and I heard this line in the final song, Los Angeles Waltz:

"I was on Mulholland drive with the radio on..."

What are the odds...

Labhras wrote:

Harbortown wrote:

My conclusion on this album after having listened to it almost every day since its release is that it's a pretty big disappointment.

isn't that like 2 months?

You tortured yourself every day for two months listening to an album you're disappointed with? You're quite the masochist.

JackStreetcar wrote:

I had to post this because it was too strange and coincidental. I was listening to Razorlight's self-titled album from 2006 and I heard this line in the final song, Los Angeles Waltz:

"I was on Mulholland drive with the radio on..."

What are the odds...

Hmm, I'd say "definite steal" because like you said, what are the odds but the radio thing is soooo classic Brian and he used Mulholland drive because he saw the movie so....now I don't know what to think. Thanks for sharing that find.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Labhras wrote:

Harbortown wrote:

My conclusion on this album after having listened to it almost every day since its release is that it's a pretty big disappointment.

isn't that like 2 months?

You tortured yourself every day for two months listening to an album you're disappointed with? You're quite the masochist.

yeah i own a dictionary too shelby, you're not impressing anyone.

Pardon my french, but there's a lot of pussy on Handwritten
especially compared to the other albums
I probably could have expressed my thought better, but that's it

Labhras wrote:

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Labhras wrote:

Harbortown wrote:

My conclusion on this album after having listened to it almost every day since its release is that it's a pretty big disappointment.

isn't that like 2 months?

You tortured yourself every day for two months listening to an album you're disappointed with? You're quite the masochist.

yeah i own a dictionary too shelby, you're not impressing anyone.

Shut up Laurence

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Pardon my french, but there's a lot of pussy on Handwritten
especially compared to the other albums
I probably could have expressed my thought better, but that's it

It's girly? There's a lot of pussy on Handwritten in the way that there's a lot of pussy on a Lil Wayne mixtape?

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Pardon my french, but there's a lot of pussy on Handwritten
especially compared to the other albums
I probably could have expressed my thought better, but that's it

Wish you were one of those Eurpoean members on here who's first language wasn't English. The clear misunderstanding/confusion would've made this hands down the best post ever.

God what I just said was so relevant.

sandyangryjohnnyormary? wrote:

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Pardon my french, but there's a lot of pussy on Handwritten
especially compared to the other albums
I probably could have expressed my thought better, but that's it

It's girly? There's a lot of pussy on Handwritten in the way that there's a lot of pussy on a Lil Wayne mixtape?

I mean like there's more sexual references and stuff
Not overtly but like "you can lean into me" in Mae, hookin up in the car in Mulholland Drive, and basically all of Desire.
It's less coy than there more albums. I guess it fits in with the goal of making it like a diary, very personal
PUSSAYYYYYYY

I agree with DeathoftheCool (although I don't know that I would have worded it that way, haha) but it's definitely the closest a TGA album has ever come to talking explicitly about even making out. It's a cool change to see.

I've always liked that Brian writes such great love songs but doesn't feel the need to fill them with sexual innuendoes or blatantly talk about sex all the time. Even when he comes close to including that stuff he mostly talks about things that could (but don't have to) lead to sex, like meeting someone and wanting to dance with them or taking them home.

Songwriters used to have to be so creative when people couldn't legally sing about sex but all that creativity has been lost in recent years. That's the one downside of reducing censorship. It's nice to see a writer not only allow himself to be creative about how he talks about that stuff, but also not feel the need to suggest it in every song. But it's cool to see him/them exploring that area a bit more without losing that creativity.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

I agree with DeathoftheCool (although I don't know that I would have worded it that way, haha) but it's definitely the closest a TGA album has ever come to talking explicitly about even making out. It's a cool change to see.

I've always liked that Brian writes such great love songs but doesn't feel the need to fill them with sexual innuendoes or blatantly talk about sex all the time. Even when he comes close to including that stuff he mostly talks about things that could (but don't have to) lead to sex, like meeting someone and wanting to dance with them or taking them home.

Songwriters used to have to be so creative when people couldn't legally sing about sex but all that creativity has been lost in recent years. That's the one downside of reducing censorship. It's nice to see a writer not only allow himself to be creative about how he talks about that stuff, but also not feel the need to suggest it in every song. But it's cool to see him/them exploring that area a bit more without losing that creativity.

We understand each other!

That couplet in Mulholland Drive is very sexy.

"In the deep, dark parking lot pressed up against my car/with your hands around my neck, I felt the pounding of your heart"

Sex sells, unfortunately it doesnt for this abum lol. For me anyway

I just realised that this is the only Gaslight album that I've initially listened to quite a bit (though I did force it at first) only to then kind of brush to the side and forget about. I can't remember the last time I really listened to this album where as I listen to everything else on a frequent basis. It's a bit gutting really.

I was listening to Biloxi Parish yesterday and really paying attention to the lyrics. And the bridge started to truly bother me. How on earth does that fit lyrically with the rest of the song? It makes absolutely no sense. It just doesn't. It's Brian returning to the Orphans concept of the heroes and taking stuff from them, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the song at all. Bah....

JackStreetcar wrote:

I was listening to Biloxi Parish yesterday and really paying attention to the lyrics. And the bridge started to truly bother me. How on earth does that fit lyrically with the rest of the song? It makes absolutely no sense. It just doesn't. It's Brian returning to the Orphans concept of the heroes and taking stuff from them, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the song at all. Bah....

we took it all and we threw it away. the idea being that they had the same attitude towards their heroes and that was part of their bond hence "who else can say that about you baby". when they first put the bridge in the live version i though the same thing but since it was changed to "we" i reckon it fits.

Labhras wrote:

JackStreetcar wrote:

I was listening to Biloxi Parish yesterday and really paying attention to the lyrics. And the bridge started to truly bother me. How on earth does that fit lyrically with the rest of the song? It makes absolutely no sense. It just doesn't. It's Brian returning to the Orphans concept of the heroes and taking stuff from them, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the song at all. Bah....

we took it all and we threw it away. the idea being that they had the same attitude towards their heroes and that was part of their bond hence "who else can say that about you baby". when they first put the bridge in the live version i though the same thing but since it was changed to "we" i reckon it fits.

No offense but that's a paper-thin connection. The third verse they cut completes the story of the song, while the bridge was clearly shoved in for whatever reason (probably to cut out names and references to Jersey).